Naked and afraid

[For Maddox Oldenburg as Asher]

Raised voices from the top of the stairs made Leoric look up from the wine he was pouring. "Finish this order for me, please, dear", he said as he placed his hand on the barmaid's shoulder, slipping behind her to get out from behind the bar. The girl didn't complain. She worked here as well and knew it was Leo's duty to make sure clients weren't bothering the workers.

The bearded man headed up the stairs, two steps at a time, and walked towards the first door, where he had noticed the voices had come from. Polite as always, and not wanting to scar his eyes by seeing something he didn't want to see (which was ironic, given that he voluntarily worked at the brothel), he knocked but when there was no answer except another raised male voice, he barged through the door. He was glad most girls didn't lock the door, or simply put a chair behind it to alert them when someone entered. Otherwise, he would have had to break the door down, and then Olivette would have had to pay for a new one. Not ideal. 

With a glare he looked at the naked man who was standing next to the bed with a belt, and one of their girls curled up in the corner of it. "What the hell is going on here", he asked, demanding an answer. "This bitch isn't letting me do my thang, but I fucking paid to have her!" he barked at Leoric, who tried not to flinch. He didn't like aggression (again, ironic, given that he was the bouncer), and especially not alcohol-fueled aggression. 

"Hitting and hurting the girls is not included in their standard package", he said firmly. Some girls did allow it, for some extra cash, but Leoric hated the customers that asked to hit the girls. It was wrong. 

"And who the hell are you to tell me what I can and cannot do!" The (still naked) man charged at Leoric, crashing into him, causing them both to tumble through the door opening into the corridor. Leo looked around and saw Asher near his door. "Asher!" he said, not as loud as he wanted to since the collision had forced most of the air out of his lungs. "A little help, please!" 

He and Asher weren't overly familiar with each other, but Leo liked to think there was mutual respect there. Asher was a worker, but in a way, he was like a second bouncer. He always stood up for the others in the establishment and had helped Leo deal with customers before.

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Asher, the prince in disguise, had been working at the brothel for a little while now and found it to be incredibly fun and enjoyable. He didn't need the funds after all and was doing this purely because he wanted to. He was picky about his clients but tried to be overly so in order to not draw too much attention to that fact as he didn't want to give Olivette a reason to either fire him or demand he accept any client who was willing to pay. So far it had worked well because Asher was the aggressor. He spotted someone he was interested in and then put the moves on them rather than waiting for just anyone to approach him.

He had just entered his room with a hunk of a man. Dark skin and muscles for days, Asher was definitely looking forward to this. He had only removed his shirt when he heard the commotion down the hall. He frowned, his instinct to stand up for the other workers wasn't one he could easily ignore. He kissed the man on the lips with a smile. "I'll be right back," he promised, and had just opened the door when he saw Leoric entering one of the rooms. He didn't follow right away. He knew the bouncer could hold his own and he didn't want to escalate a problem that was already being taken care of.

But it wasn't long before Leoric and the brute tumbled out of the room onto the floor and Asher was moving forward even before Leoric had asked. He hurried over and grabbed the naked man by his ear, tugging sharply. He didn't have clothes he could easily grab onto and he knew the pain of an ear grab would likely get the man to at least release Leoric. Asher kept pulled, encouraging the man up onto his feet as if he were a child being scolded.